Map - Malleray

Malleray is a municipality in the Jura bernois administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is located in the French-speaking Bernese Jura (Jura Bernois). On 1 January 2015 the former municipalities of Bévilard, Malleray and Pontenet merged to form the new municipality of Valbirse.

Malleray is first mentioned in 1179 as Malareia. The municipality was formerly known by its German name Mallaraya, however, that name is no longer used.

Very little is known about the early history of the village. In 1367, the Prince-Bishop of Basel, Johann von Vienne, sent troops to try to force Biel to break a burgrecht treaty that they had entered into with the city of Bern. At Malleray, the Basel troops encountered and were defeated by an army from Solothurn that was marching to support Bern against Basel. The noble de Malleray family appear in historic records during the 14th and 15th centuries. They may have been a cadet line of the local Tavannes family. Over the following centuries, the provost of Moutier-Grandval Abbey gradually acquired most of the rights and lands in the village. After the secularization of the Abbey following the adoption of the Protestant Reformation in Bern, during the end of the 16th century Malleray became part of a bailiwick under the diocese of Basel. After the 1797 French victory and the Treaty of Campo Formio, Malleray became part of the French Département of Mont-Terrible. Three years later, in 1800 it became part of the Département of Haut-Rhin. After Napoleon's defeat and the Congress of Vienna, Malleray was assigned to the Canton of Bern in 1815.

The watch making industry started in the village in 1846 and began to change it from an agrarian village into an industrial town. The construction of the Tavannes-Moutier railroad in 1874-77 increased the rate of change. The population grew rapidly as watch factory jobs brought new residents. Even today, about half of all jobs in Malleray are in precision industries.